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           The Public Speaking and Leadership Class at Cary Chinese School (CCS) is offered to students ages 10-17 and taught by experienced members of Toastmasters International clubs. This full-year class consists of a series of lessons that build proficiency and confidence in public speaking and leadership. Practical ideas are introduced in each lesson and reinforced by students actively participating in class as a prepared speaker, an impromptu speaker, or as one of the functionary roles (ringleader, evaluator, timer, grammarian, table topics master, etc.). As students gain poise and self-confidence, the activities becomes more efficient by following the Toastmasters meeting format. By the end of each semester, students will participate in speech contest and evaluation contest, followed by an award ceremony. In addition to developing speaking skills, the learning experiences in the class build self-confidence, organization and leadership skills.
Enrollment:

• Students enroll using CCS online registration system at www.carycs.org during open enrollment period or email registration@carycs.org with student name and class name/time.  Students must be at least 10 years old to enroll.
• Enrollment is for the whole school year.
• The school year is divided into two semesters: Fall and Spring.
• By enrolling in the class, students automatically become members of the CCS Gavel Club, an affiliated youth club of Toastmasters International and sponsored by CCS.
• Reference School Enrollment Policy: http://www.carycs.org/enrollment-policy.html

Class Time:
           This class is held once a week following CCS school calendar. Choose one from two different time options when registering for the class:​

• In Person: Saturdays 11:00-11:50 am 
• Online: Mondays 7:00-7:50 pm 

Any Questions? Reach out to your teacher or Gavel Club Counselor Ms. Jamie Yu (jamie.yu@carycs.org).

Give Today's Youth the Gift of Toastmasters!

Teanagers are often more comfortable communicating electronically than speaking face to face. Yet many events in teenager' lives require interpersonal communication skills to be resolved successfully. Now, more than ever, they need guidance in developing their communication skills.

Through Public Speaking and Leadership class, participants learn to:

• Overcome nervousness when speaking before an audience.
• Organize and present ideas logically and convincingly.
• Listen carefully to others' ideas.
• Participate in and lead group discussion or meetings.
• Offer advice to help others improving their speaking and leadership skills.

After successfully organized and hosted the 2019-2020 year end public speaking class contest, Brian Z., a student, stated:

"I’ve always had a fear of public speaking. Whenever I give a speech, my hands still shake a little. This class has been monumental in helping me develop my speaking skills which are important skills for later in life. This class has not only pushed me outside my comfort zone, it has also been a great experience for me. I met new people and made new friends. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone because it is fun, exciting, and overall an epic experience!"

All these skills are necessary for earning a living in today's competitive job market, but are also essential for maintaining healthy personal relationships and achieving academic goals in middle & high school and college.

Training and Materials:
Experienced toastmasters from local toastmasters Clubs will serve as counselors to provide training. We will be using our own customized training material based on youth communication and leadership training materials from Toastmasters International and other sources.

Speech and Evaluation Contests:
At the end of every semester the class will host speech and evaluation contests. All students are encouraged to participate. Parents are invited. Upon completion of the contests, winners will be announced, followed by an award ceremony for all students.

 

About Toastmasters International:
Toastmasters International (TI) is a world leader in communication and leadership development organization, with more than 345,000 members of 15,900 clubs in 142 countries and regions. www.toastmasters.org

 

From personal crises to the academic rigors of high school, teenagers are constantly confronted by difficult situations. toastmasters Gavel Clubs aim to build effective listening, expression and communication skills that will help guide young people through their teenage years and beyond.

History of CCS Gavel Club

          In the Spring of 2017, Assistant Principal Jamie Yu, who was also a member of the Techtalk Toastmasters Club, suggested that the club sponsor a Toastmasters Youth Leadership Program (YLP) at Cary Chinese School. The proposal was welcomed by the club officers Lindsay Humeniuk (VP Membership) and Kamal Das (Club President). In order to gauge the interest of parents and students, the club officers decided to host an informational seminar about the training program. On a sunny Saturday morning of May 13th, 2017, members of the Techtalk Toastmasters Club came to Cary Chinese School to deliver the 1-hour seminar. It was well received by the parents and students. The recording of the event was then posted on Youtube and announced to the whole school.

​          The club decided to start YLP in the fall semester. Jamie Yu, who became the school principal in the summer, started to recruit students and prepare training materials. Toastmasters International District 37 provided support and sponsored all materials for the 12-week Youth Leadership Program. It took place at Cary Chinese School on Saturdays in the fall of 2017. Cindy Su Hanselman, who was Division H Director at the time, offered her support after hearing about this program. Cindy and Lindsay became the primary YLP trainers for the 40 students in two classes. Over time several other Toastmasters joined them as substitute or assistant in the class.  The training program was a huge success thanks to the contribution of these volunteer Toastmasters: Lindsay Humeniuk, Cindy Su Hanselman, Jian Zhang, Nancy Ann Potts, Brinda Balakumaran, Steve Dirksen, etc.
          At the end of the YLP training program, parents provided positive feedback, such as this one from a parent Mr. Zhao:

This is a great program. Our daughter Lisa participated in one of the classes...Per my observation, she was in the process of turning from a shy little girl to a more mature and open minded young teenager. This class helped her with that transition in that direction. 
At the beginning of the class, she is nervous about each standing up speech. She would become anxious before the class. Over the time, I think she is getting better. She might still be nervous when on stage but the anxiousness prior to the class is greatly reduced. It didn't take long before she agreed to enroll herself in the final speech contest.
Another lesson she learned was the importance of preparation before performance. She is now much more willing to practice/recital at home prior to a speech in class.
Thanks for organizing this program. I think it is great addition to the school activity classes.

          In the Spring of 2018, Cary Chinese School started to officially offer "Public Speaking and Leadership" classes on Saturdays. The two classes were taught by Distinguished Toastmasters Cindy Su Hanselman and David Linquist. With the support of the school board, Jamie started CCS Gavel Club, a youth affiliate club of Toastmasters International, and became its founding club counselor. At that time the class was using CC and CL manuals from Toastmasters International. While these are great materials for Toastmasters club members, they are more suitable for adults than for young kids. 
          In the summer of 2018, Jamie took time to research and redesign the curriculum of this program and wrote weekly lesson plans. The customized lesson plans provided systematic training while incorporating techniques from Toastmasters and activities more suitable to young students. Cindy helped recruiting other Toastmasters who were interested in teaching children. During school year 2018-2019, the program offered three classes due to huge demand. The classes were taught by Cindy Su Hanselman, Deneatra Barfield, and Adrien Feudjio. The trio worked closely with Jamie to improve this program over time and continued teaching during school year 2019-2020 and beyond.